Jim Crowninshield
Reunion 2002
So she took what she had learned from her late husband, William Crowninshield, a collector of cactuses and other native plants. She spent the next 50 years collecting desert plants from Mexico and the western United States and was among the first landscapers of native plants in Tucson.
Mrs. Crowninshield died last week after surgery to repair a broken hip she suffered in a fall at her home. She was 90.
"She was a very strong-willed lady who believed nothing was impossible," said grandson Brian Crowninshield of Tucson.
Mrs. Crowninshield, whose parents were Yaqui, was born in 1915 in Nogales. The daughter of a miner, she was raised in Bisbee, said son Jim Crowninshield of Tucson.
As an adult, she came to Tucson, where she married William Crowninshield, an older man whose ancestors were among the first families to settle in Boston.
Together they had four children, and Antonia would often join her husband as he collected cactuses. "He sold cactus to wealthy people and would travel to Mexico, Texas and New Mexico to collect cactus and succulents," Jim Crowninshield said.
William Crowninshield was one of the few collectors given permission by the government to collect cactuses, his son said.
In 1946, Mrs. Crowninshield became a widow when her husband died at the age of 66, said Jim Crowninshield, who was 2 at the time. "So my mother, with a 1948 Ford pickup with a flatbed, started collecting on her own," he said.
She would often load her children into the tiny cab of the truck, with Jim huddled on the floor. She would collect 7-foot boojum trees from Puerto Libertad, a tiny town in Sonora, Jim Crowninshield said.
The trees, which can grow up to 25 feet high, would be fumigated at the border, and the family would drive them to wealthy Californians who collected them.
Once she discovered a previously unknown agave, which was then dubbed Crowninshieldii in her honor, said her granddaughter, Katherine Thornhill of Chandler.
Among her customers was Madame Ganna Walska, a Polish opera diva who lived near Santa Barbara, Calif. Her estate is now a historic botanical garden.
She also landscaped the homes of wealthy Tucsonans with native plants through her business, Associated Landscapers. Among her clients here was Lady Suffolk, whose estate later became Suffolk Hills on North Oracle Road.
Mrs. Crowninshield worked into her 80s, never losing her love of native plants.
The family celebrated her 90th birthday in September with a huge party. "She had a great time flirting with the mariachis," Jim Crowninshield said. "She was just having a ball."
Mrs. Crowninshield was also noted for her talents in the kitchen, most notably with Mexican food. And she adored scary movies.
"I'd spend the night with her, and we would stay up late and watch 'Dr. Scar,' " said Brian Crowninshield.
Mrs. Crowninshield is survived by her son Jim, of Tucson; daughters Neda Guitteau of Phoenix; Carmelita "Trigger" Gay of Amarillo, Texas, and Mary Kirkpatrick of Middleton, Iowa. She is also survived by nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. There will be no services.
| From: | amphi62@technidigm.org |
| To: | reunion panthers |
| Subject: | [Amphi62] Tour of Amphi |
Attn: Nancy Ruhl and her 6 decade old classmates,
I have talked to Joe Paddock (assistant principal)
at the high school. He has scheduled some students to
give those interested a tour of the school. He will
also give us some tickets to the homecoming football game. There
will be food booths set up before the game as part of the
homecoming celebrations. He has requested that we have a
representative from our class participate in the "dunk the senior
citizen" booth.
Any suggestions or nominations for our
representative may be turned into Nancy Ruhl via email.
The schedule is: School tour Friday, October 22, at
6:00 PM.
Football game to follow at 7:00 PM
This schedule is not cut into stone. I'm sure
Joe will accommodate us if this does not meet our needs.
For those of you that haven't seen the old school
lately, here is my perception:
The only part of the school not improved on are
the four rows of classrooms. The auditorium (named for William
Murphy) has been enlarged. The old gym is there, but a new
"sunken" basketball arena was built next to it. A big new
Cafeteria (restaurant) has been built to the east of the old
gym. Across the street are the pool, baseball field, tennis courts
and the Vern Freidli football stadium.
This mail was supposed to go out three weeks
ago. I dunno what happened.
Jim Crowninshield
|
Charlie - We have a winner!!
Nancy
--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "James Crowninshield" <jcrown44@msn.com>
To: "Nancy Ruhl" <ruhlronnan@juno.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 20:37:58 -0700
Subject: Fw: AMPHI FW: Guess Who.....
Message-ID:
<DAV99ekVgKMy5KINzq600032546@hotmail.com>
Nancy,
I think that person is Clem. As in Mr. Mercer. Or Kadidlehopper. JC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles R Jones" <cjones@technidigm.org>
To: "AMPHI1962" <amphi1962@technidigm.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 8:58 PM
Subject: AMPHI FW: Guess Who.....
http://technidigm.org/contacts/nancy-h.htm#guess
-----Original Message-----
From: Ronald E Ruhl [mailto:ruhlronnan@juno.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 4:40 PM
To: cjones@technidigm.org
Subject: Guess Who.....
Do you recognize the person in this picture? Put this one on your website and see who guesses first. He popped in for a short visit while stopping in Tucson.
http://technidigm.org/contacts/nancy-h.htm#guess
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Did anyone mention that Jeff Walters passed on? I don't think he graduated in 1962, but he went to Amphi with our class until he chose to stay longer. (?) He passed in June, 2000.
And has David Christopherson get in touch? Or maybe I should ask if I can check that somewhere.
Jim C.